Halo Wars 2 is getting a major patch very soon (changelog)

Halo Wars 2 is a sequel to the best-selling console RTS, and it hit the stores around 6 weeks ago. Following the events of Halo 5, the all-new story is told in action-packed missions set on the legendary Halo destination known as the Ark. Players will strategically command overwhelming firepower in large-scale battles against a terrifying threat facing the UNSC and all of humanity.

Now the developer, Creative Assembly, has announced that they are working on a massive bug-fixing patch that will include preparations for the upcoming free inclusion of competitive Ranked mode.

Posting on the Halo Wars 2 official forum, they announced that the patch will address the following issues:

Crashes/Errors/Performance

Fixed an issue where players could get stuck on the loading screen

Fixed an issue that caused some PC players to see a black screen on startup

Several “desync” fixes, one of which covered most of the tracked occurrences

Fixed a variety of PC crashes that were hardware-dependent

Fixed a Network Error on opening Blitz Packs

Fixed some AI issues in Skirmish that could cause performance hits

Fixed some performance hitches in Cooperative Campaign

Made performance improvements on various hardware

Overall multiplayer performance improvements

Fixed some crashes that could occur when loading a saved game

Fixed an issue that would cause a Campaign mission to get stuck after loading a save

Fixed a bug with joining a party and getting a network error

Added a driver check on PC to alert users to the presence of old drivers

Fixed an issue that caused players to disconnect from multiplayer games at the beginning of the match

Gameplay

Fixed issue with ‘Detect’ on some starting units not working properly

Fixed an issue with getting the Palmer’s Pure Gold Achievement

Fixed some bugs with Kodiaks in Campaign

Fixed a bug with garrisoned Snipers not getting additional stats

Fixed issue with squads getting stuck trying to garrison if another squad beats them to it

Gold medal can now be more easily attained in ‘Hold the Line’

Fixed a Cyclops and Reaver pathing bug where they would sometimes stop moving

Fixed an issue with units getting stuck in bases after being made

Fixed various skull functionality not working on some units or abilities

Fixed some cross-skull interactions between Annihilation and Pestilence

Fixed some Locust pathing issues in Blitz (even though they’re driven by Grunts)

Fixed an issue with units becoming unresponsive in Blitz

Fixed an issue in Blitz with units getting a x4 speed boost in a specific situation

Fixed a conflict created by swapping d-pad functionality in Blitz

Fixed an issue with the Blisterback not recovering from damage in Blitz

Fixed behavior of Marines sometimes failing to get new targets after throwing a grenade

Friendly cloaked units now appear on the minimap

Made some adjustments to Scarab creation

Tweaks to Grunt Mob, Bloodfuel Grunts, and Bloodfuel Locust

Holo Decoy can no longer be used on Pelicans or Spirits

Fixed card level of units affected by Holo Decoy not showing over clones

Glassing beam always creates vision now in Blitz

Adjusted AI to make better use of Healing and Cloaking field

Skirmish AI now uses Extraction and Teleport

AIs have been practicing their Domination game

Metagame

Fixed a bug where parties were always assigned to Team 1 Fixed a rare issue with users not actually getting to play the leader they selected in Blitz

“Halt” cinematic should no longer be unlocked early in theater

Fixed some daily/weekly challenge issues where they were not tracked in some playlists

PC players can no longer tab target to whisper to themselves

Phoenix Log page adjustments

Pause menu adjustments

Set default difficulty of AI to normal from easy

Cosmetic

Cleaned up some language localizations

Fixed a bug with UI textures failing to load

Fixed some minimap graphical issues

Fixed a PC issue with starting army text overlapping some UI

Fixed some issues with individual card pack opening animations

Fixed an issue with a terminal for a red barrier not having a display string

Fixed a Domination icon issue, where it would rotate briefly when being recaptured

Fixed an issue with Health bars getting stuck on the screen

Fixed some issues with particles randomly shooting across the maps for various objects

Adjusted transparency on locked skulls in the side panel

Radial menu has been cleaned up a bit

Added extra visual indicator to aid players when they are selecting cards

Made some enhancements to the leader selection carousel

Audio

Fixed an issue with the announcer constantly reporting Zone B is contested when it’s not

Fixed an issue with the Condor being able to be heard through fog of war

Fixed incorrect audio playing on some units when damaged

Fixed some issues with units calling out the wrong attackers

Fixed an issue with using right trigger or mouse wheel would cause audio spam

Added audio to Plasma Mines deploy

Added a variety of sound effects, and adjusted timing on some existing ones

Last, But Not Least

Under-the-hood preparation for future ranked multiplayer

There are some remaining known issues that are still being worked on and not yet covered by the patch.

These include:

Known issues:

We are still working on a fix for a known issue where a game can sometimes freeze or result in a very low frame rate

Investigating some reports of performance issues with cinematics

Investigating reports of the mini-map occasionally being unresponsive on PC

No release date has been announced yet but Creative Assembly is calling it “a top priority and the goal is as soon as possible,” and the patch is expected to hit certification in days. It is possible that the patch will release for Xbox One first, with Windows 10 to follow, due to increased complexity on the PC platform.